Bare Hands

Rastaban’s men were up in the hills lining the valley, she knew that already. That he’d had archers waiting in the trees as the first wave came forward was startling. His army hadn’t been that large before, and Shanka’s scouts had watched the village for days and days on end.

But they hadn’t watched nights.

The women reacted smoothly to the archers. Shanka was distantly pleased, but that didn’t matter. She needed some way to get a troop of women up the hill, attack the archers and whoever was left.

She was going to kill Rastaban with her bare hands.